Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Icelandic

### The Exclamative Determiner "Hvílíkur"

To express astonishment or emphasize a strong degree before a noun—such as saying "What a...!" or "Such...!"—Icelandic uses the determiner *hvílíkur*. 

Because it typically accompanies an indefinite noun, *hvílíkur* takes the **strong adjective declension**. It must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Since exclamations often stand alone as their own phrases, you will most frequently use the nominative case.

Here are the nominative forms of *hvílíkur*:

| | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Singular** | hvílíkur | hvílík | hvílíkt |
| **Plural** | hvílíkir | hvílíkar | hvílík |

{{item:1073478}}

Notice how the determiner's form changes below depending on the gender and number of the noun: masculine plural (*flugeldar*), neuter singular (*sjónarspil*), and feminine singular (*litadýrð*).

{{item:1073480}}

{{item:1073482}}

{{item:1073484}}

### Describing the Spectacle

To describe a spectacular event like a fireworks display, you can pair exclamations with descriptive clauses, strong adjectives like *stórbrotinn* (magnificent), and vivid verbs like *glitra* (to sparkle) or *springa* (to explode).

{{item:1073488}}

{{item:1073489}}

### Sparks and Smoke

You can also use *hvílíkur* to marvel at the atmosphere or the aftermath of the display, such as the sparks (*neistar*) and the smoke (*reykur*). Unchanging adjectives like *töfrandi* (magical) are perfect for capturing the mood.

{{item:1073493}}

{{item:1073496}}

Exclamative determiner (hvílíkur)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative and the definite suffix (þetta er, -inn, -in, -ið)

Singular pronouns and to be (ég er, þú ert)

Singular adjective agreement

Yes/no questions (ert þú…?)

Basic negation (ekki)

Plural pronouns and to be (við erum, þeir eru)

Group 1 weak verbs (-ar)

Group 2 and 3 verbs (-ir, -ur)

Information questions (hvað, hver, hvar)

Expressing opinions (mér finnst, mér líkar)

Expressing desires (mig langar)

Numbers 1 to 10 (einn, tveir, þrír)

Direct objects on indefinite nouns

Direct objects on definite nouns

Singular object pronouns (mig, þig...)

Plural object pronouns (okkur, ykkur...)

Directional prepositions (um, í, á)

Verb-second word order

Expressing intentions (ætla að)

Needs and wants (þurfa, vilja)

Middle voice verbs (-st)

Possessive pronouns (minn, þinn)

Dative case with prepositions (í, á, frá)

Definite dative nouns (-num, -nni, -nu)

Dative personal pronouns (honum, henni, þeim)

Plural nouns (-ar, -ir, -ur)

Definite plural nouns (-nir, -nar, -in)

Accusative plural nouns

Number agreement 1 to 4 (einn, tveir…)

Singular commands

Past tense of the verb to be (var, vorum)

Present continuous (vera að)

Strong verbs in the present tense

Weather and dummy subjects (það)

Invariable possessive pronouns (hans, hennar, þeirra)

Accusative possessives (minn, þinn)

Accompaniment (með)

Dative plural (-um, -unum)

Compound sentences (og, en, eða)

"This" in the nominative (þessi, þessi, þetta)

"This" in the accusative (þennan, þessa, þetta)

Accusative adjectives (-an, -a, -t)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the accusative (einn, tvo, þrjá)

Third-person reflexive pronouns (sig, sér)

The preposition "to" with the genitive (til)

Subordinating conjunctions (að, af því að)

Simple past of weak verbs (-aði)

Question words (hvernig, hvaða)

Physical possession (vera með)

Abstract possession (hafa)

Telling time (hálf, korter)

Plural commands (-ið)

The simple past tense (-di, -ti, -ði)

Possessive noun endings (-s, -ar)

Days of the week (á mánudaginn, á mánudögum)

Kveðjur — greetings (halló, bless)

Um mig — where I am from

Kurteisi — please, sorry, congratulations

Ability and knowing how (kunna að)

Permission (mega)

Obligation (eiga að)

Plural strong verbs

Numbers 11 to 20 (ellefu, tólf...)

Counting by tens to 100 (þrjátíu, fjörutíu...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (fyrsti, annar...)

All / everything / everyone (allur)

The indefinite pronoun someone (einhver)

The indefinite pronoun no one (enginn)

Compound numbers from 21 (tuttugu og)

This in the dative singular (þessum, þessari, þessu)

These in the dative plural (þessum)

My and your in the dative (mínum, þínum)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the dative (einum, tveimur)

Adjectives in the dative singular (-um, -ri, -u)

Adjectives in the dative plural (-um)

Reflexive possessive in the accusative (sinn, sína, sitt)

Reflexive possessive in the dative (sínum, sinni)

Reflexive versus regular possessives (sinn, hans)

Demonstrative plural (þessir, þessar, þessi)

Definite genitive singular (-sins, -arinnar)

Indefinite genitive plural (-a)

Definite genitive plural (-anna)

Genitive prepositions (án, milli, vegna)

Prepositions of direction (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Prepositions of static location (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Question	Answer
what a / such a	hvílíkur
the firework (m)	flugeldurinn
What fireworks!	Hvílíkir flugeldar!
the spectacle (n)	sjónarspilið
What a spectacle!	Hvílíkt sjónarspil!
the colorful splendor (f)	litadýrðin
What colorful splendor in the sky!	Hvílík litadýrð á himninum!
magnificent	stórbrotinn
the rocket (f)	rakettan
to sparkle	glitra
It is this magnificent rocket that sparkles so beautifully.	Það er þessi stórbrotna raketta sem glitrar svona fallega.
What rockets are exploding up there!	Hvílíkar rakettur sem springa þarna uppi!
A magnificent firework is yet to explode.	Það á eftir að springa stórbrotinn flugeldur.
the spark (m)	neistinn
magical	töfrandi
What sparks! They are absolutely magical.	Hvílíkir neistar! Þeir eru alveg töfrandi.
the smoke (m)	reykurinn
The smoke is so thick that we barely see the sparks.	Reykurinn er svo þykkur að við sjáum varla neistana.
What a lot of smoke after this spectacle!	Hvílíkur reykur eftir þetta sjónarspil!
The colorful splendor is so magical that the children just stand and watch.	Litadýrðin er svo töfrandi að börnin standa bara og horfa.
What a spectacle! The fireworks glitter.	Hvílíkt sjónarspil! Flugeldarnir glitra.